DeKrey laboratory
My research explores the areas of immunology and pharmacology with the applied goal of understanding how drugs can regulate immune function.
The current focus of my laboratory is to explain how the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) regulates intestinal humoral immunity. The AhR is a required factor for normal development and function of the immune system. Antibodies represent the primary effector molecule of humoral immunity. Antibodies are secreted from the body across the intestinal epithelium to act as a first line of defense against toxins and infectious agents, regulate microbial populations, and mediate tolerance to environmental antigens. We've shown that the AhR regulates antibody responses in the gut, apparently prioritizing gut responses over those occurring elsewhere in the body. But this regulation differs in male and female mice. Our current research is exploring hypotheses to explain how these antibody responses are differently regulated by the AhR in males and females using a mouse model.
